The present invention relates to a side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle.
A structure in which a rear wheelhouse is connected to a vehicle-body constituting member which is positioned above the rear wheelhouse via a reinforcing member extending in a vertical direction is known as the side vehicle-body structure of the vehicle. The rear wheelhouse is provided with a suspension housing which is supported at its upper end portion, to which a vibration load of the vertical direction is inputted from the suspension through the suspension housing. A vertical-directional rigidity of the rear wheelhouse is so improved by the reinforcing member (hereafter, referred to as a suspension housing reinforcement) that vibration input from the suspension can be resisted properly.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open publication No. 2009-83826 discloses a side vehicle-body structure of a vehicle which comprises plural suspension housing reinforcements. Specifically, one of the plural suspension housing reinforcements is formed by a C pillar which is connected to a roof side rail at its upper end portion, and the other suspension housing reinforcement is formed by a wheelhouse extension which is connected to a beltline portion at its upper end portion.
In the structure of the above-described patent document, while the above-described one of the plural suspension housing reinforcements is formed by the C pillar which is a vehicle-body skeleton portion (a frame, a cross member, a pillar and so on), the above-described other suspension housing reinforcement (wheelhouse extension) is not formed by the skeleton portion nor connected to the skeleton portion. Accordingly, the support rigidity of the rear wheelhouse by means of the other suspension housing reinforcement is lower than that by means of the C pillar.
Meanwhile, the rear wheelhouse tends to be easily deformed upward in a vehicle rear collision by a collision load which is inputted through a rear frame and directed forward, which may cause a decrease, in the vertical direction, of a rear-portion cabin space which is positioned adjacently, in a vehicle width direction, to the rear wheelhouse. It is desired to suppress the upward deformation of the rear wheelhouse in order to prevent the decrease, in the vertical direction, of the cabin space in the vehicle rear collision.
Herein, it may be considered to connect the plural suspension housing reinforcements to the skeleton portion of the vehicle body, respectively, as countermeasures. However, this may improperly cause increasing in size of the suspension housing reinforcement.